Conjecture Analysis: Hey! ...we are still in the microcosm

...at Grandma's Treats ...another Quasi Company
By Patrick Darnell

Privacy ...Internet and otherwise... is this month's topic at your local business owner's networking group meeting. Implementing e-business solutions that protect individual’s privacy have ethical and legal ramifications. Addressing these concerns can be seen as limiting your ability to use the technology of the Internet for the financial gain or for protecting you and others from sharing information that should be kept private. Other business owners have varying experiences with privacy. Discuss the specific advantages and disadvantages of doing ecommerce in 1) an insecure open environment and 2) an overly secure environment. Which would be most appropriate for Grandma's Treats and why?

Mankind and Machine: The Continuation--Security and Privacy in the Age of Electronic Commerce

It is a blend of humankind and machine that makes goals reachable. Neither a person alone, nor remote mechanism, can accomplish a task as well as the combination of human and machine.


Any debate on the well-adapted security system will touch on the following:
Internal – Users/ IT/ Administrators
Growth of computer usage
Security from Hackers breaking into delicate corporate information
Retrieved personal information
ISP systems security
Building security to fit the present budget

Internal Privacy Protocol:
All users of the IT system must be in agreement with the obligations of Privacy.
Each IT company should have some level of ethic guideline, privacy protection, and perimeter security.

Growth of computer usage:
The GAO did a study to help legislators decide how to prepare GSA Advantage for the future. The growth in usage gives an idea how fast the Internet has grown.

From 1998 to 2002, the growth is identified by total sales in IT supplies shipped by GSA. In the year 1998, total is about $5 billion. The year 2005 shows IT sales at about $13 billion. The growth rate indicator in this study is a percentage of 260%.

The GAO, in its Business Strategy Recommendations, said the growth of IT products along with the usual sales, has out distanced the Internet purchase system, called GSAdvantage.
Due chiefly to the lack of a strategic business plan, the Internet has not become a friendly place, even after eight years, to requisition products form the GSA. Most vendors never even tried to go on the system until in 2002, when it became mandatory for them to join.

Security Measures to dissuade Hackers breaking in delicate corporate information:
From the day people started using computers to relay information, there has been the problem of security with computer networks.

Firewalls, perimeter securities, and authentications are all ways of designing a secure environment. Encryption is a little different, it is a way of sending a message to someone with only that person being able to read or understand it.

Buckminster Fuller, a polymath, found that processes and systems defined themselves in synergistic. Synergism is a theory that will be tested in the present business environment. Especially in the E-Business channel, the sum of the total will increasingly be greater than the sum of the parts.

Retrieved personal information
As mentioned in the textbook, there are five privacy principles. They are notice, choice, access, security/integrity, and enforcement.
Notice – Consumers have right to know about any personal info being gathered

Choice – Consumers have final say regarding the use of personal info

Access – Consumers have access and have ability to change personal info captured in files or
Database anywhere

Security/Integrity – Consumers personal info be processed, stored, and transmitted in secure way

Enforcement – Courts back consumers if any of the principles (notice, choice, access,
Security/integrity) are violated

ISP systems security
Company is i.e. Master card; Visa, Discover card and other credit card companies are in the business of security and protection for their customers at the lowest cost. These giant holding companies are a formidable force in the economy today, and tomorrow.

Because many parties using the Internet Service Providers do not want to be the testing soil, the lab animal, of the ensuing age of privacy and security schemes, the majority will be unwilling to participate in privacy protocols.

Notice how long it is taking legislation to become part of the broil of Internet futures. Do the majority of US Senators/ Legislators/ Judges in offices, even know how to turn on their computers?

The law of large numbers indicates to the opinion of this author, the more visits to a Website, the more likely is to be a mishap. Unless one is born a donkey, the flow of bytes is a burden not to be ignored. The byte stream will wholly occupy entire populations, and absorb the attention of all. Commercial Television will simply go away. Modern regional malls will become ruins; noise levels will transcend unbearable.

Who is feeling inadequate in the land of infinite possibilities? There is an idea out there in the future; no one can see it clear enough to identify it. A chance it is a security/ privacy condition is highly probable.

This conjecture is drawn because the opposite is true. Internet Systems are equitable in all transactions, and to stay that way they have to be protected from the Internet.

The computer age has initiated never before seen sharing of personal information. For example, the once revered and protected social security number is nearly a useless implement, today. No individual’s life is today, unsullied by the abuse of the numbers that identify him.

Building security for the future, to fit the present budget
The most important developments in Internet marketing are the converting retail operations into wholesales factory direct operations, almost overnight, throughout the business world. The new variables in the mix are savings from streamlined automated production/shipping processes versus costs implementing the streamlines.

As the middleman disappears, costs savings should offset the cost of investments in Internet Commerce setups.

What is the foremost idea in the heads of consumers? Answer this conundrum, and one may design an equitable, perfect system to carry his business into the next decade. Unknown cost added variables do not repress your budget.

Had successful retailers’ practices for pricing differentials included the eventual selling over Internet? Can fiefdoms exist on the worldwide Internet?

Some indicating Attitudes of modern business people show a movement to push for the E-Commerce phenomenon, despite the Security/ Privacy threat.

“The Computer; It is a translator. It puts the toil of repetitive operations into an art form, but it cannot learn anything from repeating itself. My ideas may differ radically from those of family and coworkers but that doesn’t mean they are wrong. Far from it. I plan to go ahead and test them out on my own time, and record the results.

“Go ahead and accept a dare. My impatience with all the endless conjecture leads me to strike out on my own and actually put the money where my mouth is.

“Sticking with the status quo is not an option, especially with my current take no prisoners mindset. I would rather deal with all kinds of change than feel like I’m in a pit of stagnation.

“What differentiates our company is our focus on the dedication to excellence, the quality and the precision in building profitable business strategies with our clients.

“We exist to provide fresh ideas and effective support in identifying and implementing strategic and operational solutions to world class companies in a New World of business.

“Innovation, in the form of new products, processes, and ways of managing, underpins the growth of productivity that is necessary for a rising standard of living:

• Innovative capacity is especially important for advanced nations if they are to support higher wages than developing economies that can rapidly imitate.
• Innovative capacity in a nation or region is heavily rooted in its microeconomics environment, in areas such as the intensity of scientists and engineers in the workforce, the degree of protection of intellectual property, and the depth of clusters.
• Innovation also holds the key to solving many of the world’s most pressing social challenges such as health care and improving the quality of the physical environment.” http://www.isc.hbs.edu/society.htm

Conclusion

RECOMMENDATION —The research is helpful but inconclusive.

Since the inventing of the printing press, no modern development has brought humanity a new Lexicon, as the secure and private virtual Customer Relations Management available via the Internet. The clock starts now!

Grandma’s Treats requires, today, a state-of-the-art Security system with cautious, strict Privacy Protocol adopted for the company to follow. Spare no expense, plan and expand.

Spin the Winnowing Wheel and Sharpen your pencils: Initial search parameters for finding marketing models suggest that all advertising is crossover technology today. This trend is being funded by monster companies and will continue to grow. Picking one method over another will lesson its effectiveness. I submit the group players find a happy medium between several choices.

As advocate for the group, the CEO should suggest seasonal captures with banner ads, to push in the age fifty and over consumers, during holidays. The group will have been gathering demographic interest in their products from responses to the banners. An investment in software for Target Marketing, using their database, the group can begin to call on the local businesses, and end user companies, in those regions most interested in their products.
Only after good numbers in returns, should the group attempt to invest in cross media advertising, or make a major investment in Search Engine Registration. Then everyone sticks to the plan...


____________ ___NOTES: Google, PayPal, and others
http://www.isc.hbs.edu/society.htm
Clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, and associated institutions in a particular field that are present in a nation or region. Clusters arise because they increase the productivity with which companies can compete. The development and upgrading of clusters is an important agenda for governments, companies, and other institutions. Cluster development initiatives are an important new direction in economic policy, building on earlier efforts in macroeconomic stabilization, privatization, and market opening, and reducing the costs of doing business.

Microeconomics foundations of economic development are the operating practices and strategies of firms as well as the business inputs, infrastructure, institutions, and policies that constitute the environment in which a nation’s firms compete. Recent research suggests that microeconomics differences account for much of the variation across countries in GDP per capita. The microeconomics foundations of economic development are embodied in the diamond: factor conditions, demand conditions, context for firm strategy and rivalry and related and supporting institutions.

Innovation, in the form of new products, processes, and ways of managing, underpins the growth of productivity that is necessary for a rising standard of living. Innovative capacity is especially important for advanced nations if they are to support higher wages than developing economies that can rapidly imitate. Innovative capacity in a nation or region is heavily rooted in its microeconomics environment, in areas such as the intensity of scientists and engineers in the workforce, the degree of protection of intellectual property, and the depth of clusters. Innovation also holds the key to solving many of the world’s most pressing social challenges such as health care and improving the quality of the physical environment.

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http://www.apmforum.com/asia-business-strategy.php
Global Search for Software Patents. Clue: Is Google on eBay's auction?
All the available money in the world today is simply not enough to buy all the patents at their valuation. A good software patent can generate hundreds of millions in revenues through use and licensing. What, then, is the password to access the software billions? Who has the 'code-next?' Is there a 'road ahead' for the citizens of countries where software patents are denied? Which software-driven business model will swallow the other? Has Google already gone on eBay's auction?

On September 7, 1998, when Google Inc. started its operations in a garage in Menlo Park, California, perhaps the only luxury it could afford was the remote control device for its garage 'office' door! Even with its Google-vision and foresight, it could not have visualized the journey which catapulted Google from the garage to its headquarters in Mountain View, from 3 to more than 3000 employees, and from $100,000 to an $ 80 billion company, in a short span of 7 years.

Starting as a college research project by two graduate students, it evolved into a multi-billion dollar company, with a global market share of 36.5% in search engine industry! Well, it's not a unique story and there are several such examples of successful companies. But the real ingenuity of Larry Page and Sergey Brin - the founders of Google - lie not in just establishing the company but in driving it to a phenomenal success using their judicious mix of unconventional wisdom, angel investments, and strategic use of Intellectual Property Rights.

Could we have ever thought of making billions of dollars from a 'bot' - an intelligent software program which searches for terms matching certain criteria? Here is how bots crawled up in the global mindspace. With the advent of affordable connectivity and faster broadband, millions of potential customers started getting on-line more often, and staying on-line longer; and the Internet, almost suddenly, became a very powerful sales channel.

Simultaneously or consequently, companies also started strutting their stuff on the net with equal zeal. Traffic on the highway to international marketplace was increasing daily. Internet was surpassing the British Empire as the territory upon which the Sun would never set. The concept of 'forever open' was even more beckoning than ye olde 24/7 store. The patent expires in 2017.

Apart from search engine technology patents, Google's intellectual property (intangible assets) include innovative business models and trade marks such as Froogle, Gmail, Ride Finder, Zeitgeist, Blog Spot, etc. We may wonder why Google comes out with so many innovations and seeks to obtain patents and trade marks. The reason is simple: patents give their owners the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention and therefore, the patent-holder can increase profits and remain protected from direct competition. Patents that are used to limit competition are also useful in strengthening a company's position in licensing negotiations.

Microsoft holds general search-related patents which include methods of searching information in directory catalogues; a system for enhancing search area selection; and a method of 'concept-searching' which utilizes Boolean or keyword search engine. Amazon, an on-line retailer, has also claimed a patent that could influence the search-related advertising industry.

http://www.alignent.com/solutions/it/ IT Roadmapping: A Better Way to Manage the Complexity of Technology
Fortune 500 companies and governmental organizations are using road maps to manage complex technology interdependence's and relationships, supplier road maps, software and hardware releases and vendor support plans, connecting the dots to changes as they occur.
Using IT road maps, firms can gain visibility into the plans of hundreds of software and hardware vendors, identifying relationships and interdependence's that are critical to strategic IT planning and business continuity.

For example, large aerospace, logistics and manufacturing firms are tracking major network and telecommunications suppliers such as British Telecom and Cisco to determine how vendors' end-of-life decisions would influence their network infrastructure going forward. IT roadmaps provide a way for companies to reduce their risk and gaining situational awareness about unsupported technology and potential exposures.

Using roadmaps, companies can identify periods for upgrading new versions of software and hardware that have interdependence's and provide insight into how to best support a deployment. Roadmaps provide visibility into what IT architecture, assets and certifications an organization has in-house and how this should change over time to reflect strategic business initiatives.
Learn more about how IT roadmaps can help your organization:
· Identify technology barriers
· Drive technology selection and development decisions
· Identify system requirements
· Be more responsive, faster, to technological change
· Manage technology assets more strategically
· Develop plans that ensure that required technology are available when you need them
· Respond to gaps in product and technology plans

http://www.thedecalogue.com/
Articles, glossary, tools, and downloads, inspired by Dr. Deming and the theory of constraints. http://www.mst-toc.it/
Italy Dictionary of high-tech computer vocabulary http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionary/dictionary.html
Annual brief reports by country on trade barriers, foreign investment, government intervention in the economy, and other impacts on what the authors’ term economic freedom. http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/countries.cfm
Is PayPal safe to use?PayPal protects your financial information with industry-leading security and fraud prevention systems. When you use PayPal, your financial information is not shared with the merchant. Once your payment is complete, you will be emailed a receipt for this transaction.

BBB Privacy Certification The information practices of PayPal, Inc. have been reviewed and meet the standards of the Better Business Bureau's BBBOnline Privacy Program. http://www.bbbonline.org/cks.asp?id=20111061155818568 Note: This seal indicates that PayPal is a member of the BBBOnline Privacy Program and in no way reflects any relationship a seller that uses the PayPal service may have with the Better Business Bureau.

The security of your information, transactions, and money is the core of our business and our top priority at PayPal.PayPal automatically encrypts your confidential information in transit from your computer to ours using the Secure Sockets Layer protocol (SSL) with an encryption key length of 128 bits (the highest level commercially available). Before you even register or log in to our site, our server checks that you are using an approved browser - one that uses SSL 3.0 or higher.Once your information reaches us, it resides on a server that is heavily guarded both physically and electronically. Our servers sit behind an electronic firewall and are never directly connected to the Internet, so your private information stays private